CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Working environment plays an important role towards the  employees ‘performance.  

Working environment is argued to impact immensely on employees’ performance  either towards negative or the positive outcomes (Chandrasekar2001).

Every organization, either big or small is set up mainly for the attainment of some goals and objectives.  People are therefore organized because there are certain common tasks to be performed or goals to be achieved.  Thus, it become very imperative to create a conducive atmosphere in the work environment in order to attain the maximum productivity of workers employed.  That is to say both human and materials resources have to be well managed in order to attain the desire result of the organization.

            Many factors could be linked or responsible for worker’s effectiveness in an industrial organization.  These ranges from working condition, cultural effect, work incentive, physical fitness, environmental factors, skill and many others.  However conducive work environment plays a very important and prominent role in the effectiveness of workers despite the barriers that affects the performance of workers in any organizations.

            The effect of work environment enables the workers to be more effective in the performance of their allotted task.  Works environment can also be described as organization climate, which is somewhat like personality of a person.  The perceptions which people have of that climate produce its images in their minds some organization are bustling and effective, while some are easygoing some are quite human and other are hard and cold.

            It is important to know the impression workers have of the organization environment with which they work, it also imperative to know the extent to which people are treated as human beings rather than cogs in a machine.  It is logical to expect that not all individual will have the same view of that environment.  Some will see it as authorities and not conducive while others may see it as democratic and conclusive.

            Industrial workers are mostly eager to get the best type of work environment in terms of health and safety, salary, first aid and favourable leadership style in order to meet their ends and sustain a living.  Workers also want to maximize their income and not production capacity.  This is why it become very necessary to create a conducive worker environment to ensure the effectiveness of the workers.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Workers are discouraged if their conditions are not improved and as such they are not motivated and satisfied to bring out their best in the discharge of their duties.  As a result of the ineffectiveness of the workers in industrial work place our country is lagging behind a lot when to other advanced countries. Some of these problems are;

Ø  Non-availability of protective equipment in cases for workers.

Ø  Non-availability of five precautions in cases of fire outbreak.

Ø  Non-availability of health care facilities such as clinic to take care of worker’s health

Ø  Lack of motivation is also an identified problem where employees are not being motivated.

There are also problem of work related injuries and illness, which events or exposures in the environment that caused or contributes to the condition or significantly, aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Records able cases include work-related injuries and illness hat result in death, loss of consciousness, day away from work, significant work related injustices or illness that are diagnosed by a physician on other licensed health care, chronic irreversible diseases, any fractured on cracked bone or a punctured eardrum, etc.

Occasional illness also include, skin disease or disorders which illness including the worker’s skin that are caused by work exposure to chemical, plants or other job substances examples contact Dermatitis, Eczema or rash caused by primary irritant blisters chronic ulcer inflammation of the skun, etc.

Respiration conditions are illness associated with breathing hazardous biological agents, chemical dust, gasses, vapour or fumes at work.  Examples are silicosis, tuberculosis, occupation asthma, reactics airways dysfunction lung beryllium disease.  Obstructive pulmonary disease (COOD) hypersensitive peritonitis toxic inhalation injury such as metal fume fever chronic bronchitis and pneumoconiosis.

Poisoning: includes disorders evidenced by abnormal concerti’s of toxic substance in blood, other tissues, other bodily fluids on the breath that are caused by the ingestion or absorption of toxic substances into the body.  Example poisoning be lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic or other metal poisoning by injective sprays such as parathion or leadasenate poison by other chemicals such as formulae hydes.

Hearing loss:  Noise induced loss for records keeping in charge in hearing threshold relative to the baseline audiogram of an average of 10db or more in either ear at 2.000.3.000 and 4.000. hartez and the employees total level is 25decible (db) or more above the audiometric zero also average at 2.000.3.000 and 4.000 hartz in the same ear(s).

Other occupation illness:  Examples are heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat stress and other effects of environmental heat, freezing frostbite and other effect of exposure to low temperature, decompression sickness effect of ionizing radiation (isotopes x-ray) radium effects of no ionizing radiation (welding flash, ultraviolet rays lesser) anthracic blood borne pathogenic disease such as AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis Brucellosis, malignant or being tumors histoplasmosis Coccidomycosis.  Apart from all the occupational illness and injuries that effect the productivity of workers in the work environment, there is loan occupational problem that is inevitable which is the leadership or supervisory style.

The supervisory or leadership that is used in work environment would be a leader with an autocratic of leadership does not wants to know the problem of the workers he might also have a nonchalant attitude towards the performance of his workers.  And all these ultimately effect the effectiveness of his workers in the industrial workplace.

Many scholars have been so interested in this areas of study.  This was the idea of Danvan (1971) in his view.  Research findings indicate that at least, in pray industrialized societies a democratic style of supervision leadership achieves better results than a autocratic style.  This various problems that effect the work environment and also the work has to be understood by the management also the conditions that could enhance their level of performance capacity.

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to help gain more insight about the effect of worker environment which is the purposed to be conducive in order for the workers to carryout their duties effectively.

            The objectives of the study are stated as follows:

i.      To evaluate the effect of non-availability of productive equipment in the performance of workers in Nigeria Bottling Company.

ii.    To ascertain whether extensive fire precaution facilities and manual in factories can induce the falling of better safety among the workers hence improve performance.

iii.   To determine the effectiveness of health care facilities such as first aid in the factory and clinic on employee productivity.

iv.   To look indepth into the extent of impact of workers in an industrial organization like Nigeria bottling Company.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTION

      i.        Does provision of health facilities motivates workers to higher productivity?

    ii.        Does provision of safety facilities in the workplace induce better security and better performance?

   iii.        Does motivation of employee affect the in productivity?

   iv.        Does non-availability of protective equipment affect the performance of workers of Nigeria Bottling Company

1.5     RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

In this research work, the following set of hypothesis are to be investigated and analysed.

      i.        H0:      Availability of health facilities motivate workers to higher productivity

H1:      Availability of health facilities motivate worker to higher productivity

    ii.        H0:      Provision of safety facilities in the workplace does not induce better security and better performance among Nigeria Bottling Company workers.

H1:      Provision of safety facilities in the workplace induce better security and better performance among Nigeria Bottling Company workers.

   iii.        H0:      Inadequate and inappropriate motivation is not a major factors that affects productivity in Nigeria Bottling Company

H1:      Inadequate and inappropriate motivation is not a major factors that affects productivity in Nigeria Bottling Company

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

            This research or study is motivated by the workers low level of performance in the industrial work place which has immensely contributed to the industrial to perform their allotted task has greatly contributed to the breakdown of many of our industries in Nigeria.  However, worker environment is seen as an important factors that is responsible for worker’s performance.  It is when workers are under a conductive atmosphere and given frings benefits such as transportation facilities that will enable us to make some possible solution on these problem and as well improved over industrial sectors and other establishment as a determinant of workers performance.

1.7    SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is limited to Nigerian Bottling Company (Coca-cola) situated at mainland hotel Ido-oyinbo.  The research will be conducted on the workers and employee performance in an industrial organization like Nigeria Bottling Company. Some of the departments used for the research are; Laboratory, Maintenance human resources and account department that constitute the company.  Both male and female workers will be studied.  This will enable us to understand how conducive the environment is and how it affect the performance of the workers in Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC).

            The limitation of the study has not been easy task for any encounters in getting the management of Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) to cooperate in giving necessary approval to carry out this research to the organization based on some reasons best known to them, there was a lot of delay and restriction.

            However, with many assurance given to them that the research was mainly and purely for academic purpose and that information collected will be treated in strict confidence and also with the help of the head of maintenance department and some of their managers.  I was given the opportunity to carry on with the research.